Holly and Jane whipped up some fabulous Thanksgiving Day food for us. It was almost too pretty to eat. But we snapped a photo and commenced to devouring. Instead of a traditional turkey, Holly tried turkey ravioli – it is turkey and dressing stuffed inside a more bite-sized ravioli. Yum!

Afterward, Ivy and I went to see Penguins of Madagascar and then stopped at Discovery Green park for some playtime and to check out the ice skating rink and “Field of Lights” display.

Ray and Becky Canatella stopped by for the night as they were making their way to Louisianna for the Thanksgiving holiday, so I suggested we take advantage of the good weather and go to the Renaissance Festival. I’ve been there a few times and Ray has been once, but Becky had never been to the festival. So we 3 grown-ups and 1 child headed north to spend a nice day back in medieval times.

But insurance covered all the repairs with no hassles from the insurance company. I was able to choose a body shop that was within walking distance of the our house, so that made life a little easier too.

I’ve dealt with enough car repair shops in my lifetime to know when they say, “Sure, just drop it off and we’ll get it taken care of” that really means they’ll start ordering parts… and then wait for parts to arrive… and then apologize when the parts are on backorder… and then 2 or 3 weeks will go by while you are struggling to deal with a lack of transportation. This time I made it clear I will drop off the truck when the parts ARRIVE. 1 week later the parts did arrive and I dropped off the truck, but then it turned out they had ordered the wrong parts!! So I still had to wait until the following week for new parts to arrive and repairs to be made. All in all, the truck was at the shop for about 9 days.

The moment I picked up the truck from the shop a rainbow appeared. God was smiling down and saying, “Hey, that’s a really nice truck!”

It was a private birthday party for our friend (and realtor) Shawn Manderschied. He was having his birthday party at a rollerskating rink on the east side of town, so we decided to give it a try. I used to skate all the time when I was a teenager, but quit doing that for many years now. I wasn’t sure if I could still make my way around the rink! Turns out, it is sort of like riding a bike… you never forget.

We put skates on Ivy too, but we weren’t sure if she could do it or even if she’d like it or not. Turns out she loved it and did very well for her first time on the rink. By the end of the night she was standing on her own and scooting around by herself.

Last year, I put Ivy into several Vacation Bible Schools and she liked every one of them. So we did the VBS tour again this year and even added 1 week of summer camp. Just like last year, it was a hoot! I volunteered for one of VBS and became the popcorn maker guy. There was always plenty of opportunities to volunteer from preparing snacks to full stage-productions including dancers and video and costumed characters and much more. Maybe next year I’ll get to wear a costume.

Tallowood Baptist

Tallowood Baptist

2nd Baptist Big Show

2nd Baptist Big Show

2nd Baptist kids area

2nd Baptist kids area

2nd Baptist kids area

2nd Baptist kids area

2nd Baptist kids area

2nd Baptist kids area

2nd Baptist kids area

Dress up day at 1st Baptist

1st Baptist

Superhero VBS

Superhero VBS

These were the themes at several of the VBS’.

When I was a teenager, I did 1 week of summer camp and absolutely LOVED it! So I wanted to expose Ivy to summer camp as well. This wasn’t an stay-overnight-in-a-cabin type camp, but rather a day camp in downtown Houston. So that seemed like a good way to expose her to camps and see if she liked it. She loved it! So we’ll probably do Pine Cove camps each summer … and maybe more throughout the year. Pine Cove has camps for the whole family and each session is jam-packed full of activities from day to night. Check out their Pine Cove website for more information:

Better yet, check out this 5 minute video showing all the features of their campground in Tyler, Texas. Pine Cove is AWESOME!

Like that? Want to see more? Check out the 21 minute video giving you lots of footage of activities from just 1 week at a camp.

Okay, so it’s hot outside and I have a kid I need to entertain during this summer break. What to do? Maybe go to the library? As it turns out, the Heights Library wass having some kind of snake demonstration today, so I figured that might kill some time and we could even hang out and read a book or two while we were there.

Much to my amazement, there were about 250 women and children also checking out the snake demonstration. The room was wall-to-wall people! I felt a little out of place since I was pretty much the only guy in there (except for the speaker/snake-handler guy doing the talking), but soon found out that worked to my advantage. The snake handler asked for 2 grown-up volunteers from the audience to hold snakes for him. None of the moms were willing to sacrifice themselves. I raised my hand and quickly was chosen. Another teenage girl also raised her hand and volunteered.

So we spent the next hour handling lots of different snakes including pythons. Ivy was a bit afraid of the snakes at first, but by the end of the show she was adorning herself with baby pythons too. It was a fun morning! What a nice surprise from the Heights Neighborhood Library.

Way back in 1985 while living in Dallas, Texas a friend invited me to go see a Christian rock band named “Stryper”. I had heard a few of their songs from an album called “Soldiers Under Command” and liked it, so I agreed to go along and check it out. They were playing at something called the “Bronco Bowl” which sounded like a big arena to me (thinking Rose Bowl or Cotton Bowl), but it turned out the ‘bowl’ actually meant ‘bowling alley’! LOL! This particular bowling alley had a small theater in which many bands played including U2, The Clash, Bruce Springsteen, and lots more.

Bronco Bowl concert hall seating 2500

When Stryper took the stage, I have to admit at first I was a bit stunned. Here were guys in revealing spandex and big teased hair screaming out some rock music… and even throwing bibles in to the audience! It was strange. But I liked it. I liked it a lot.

Stryper wasn’t quite famous yet. That would come only a year or so later with the release of “To Hell with the Devil.” That album put them on the rock-n-roll map and covers of rock-n-roll magazines. It also landed them several spots on MTV with videos such as “Free” and “Honestly”.

Anyway, years pass and Stryper eventually fades away along with much of the 80′s hair bands. But by 2010 they are back together and begin to experience a renaissance. By 2013 they are releasing their most critically acclaimed album to date: “No More Hell to Pay.”

So when they roll into Houston for a show, I’m there. They do a sell-out show at a place called “Concert Pub North” and rock way into the night… past midnight actually. The crowd was obviously familiar with their music and would sing along with nearly every song. These guys have become great musicians – I mean really great musicians – and put on a rockin’ good show. Yes, they still throw bibles into the audience. I loved it! I look forward to seeing them again, although they say they will not be touring for at least 2 years.